Deadly Denver shooting adds to fury in US over gun violence

DENVER, Colorado — Gun violence is still rampant in the United States as more and more people are shot and citizens are growing angrier.

On Wednesday, a 17-year-old student wounded two administrators at the East High School in Denver. The student was later found dead near his vehicle. The suspect Austin Lyle was being patted down as part of a search for weapons when he produced a handgun and began shooting, local police said.

Parents of students converged on the campus on Wednesday and blamed officials for not doing enough to protect their children.

"I am sick of it," said Jesse Haase, who planned to talk to her daughter about taking her out of classes for the rest of the school year.

Some students vented their frustration over violence at the school as they surrounded police chief Ron Thomas. "This is the reality of being young in America: sitting through a shooting and waiting for information just hours before you're scheduled to testify in support of gun safety bills," said Gracie Taub, a 16-year-old East High School sophomore and volunteer with Students Demand Action in Colorado.

In response to the shooting, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre just repeated President Joe Biden's call for stricter gun laws, and for Congress to "do something" on gun control.

The school is frequently shaken by violence. The bloodshed came three years after the Denver school board voted to eliminate its program of assigning armed city police officers, known as school resources officers, to its public school campuses, relying instead on the school district's own security team.

Wednesday was the second anniversary of 10 people being shot and killed at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.

On Tuesday night, a former soldier shot and killed three children in South Carolina. The man then killed himself.

Gun violence has become increasingly common in the US with more than 1,300 shooting incidents recorded between 2000 and June 2022, according to government researchers cited by The Associated Press.

Gun Violence Archive recorded more than 6,000 deaths and injuries to teenagers and children last year.

Agencies Via Xinhua